SDSU’s Lusignan, IUPUI’s Zajac Named Cross Country Athletes of the Week

South Dakota State's Trent Lusignan and IUPUI's Rachel Zajac

Oct 22, 2013

ELMHURST, Ill. – South Dakota State's Trent Lusignan and IUPUI's Rachel Zajac were named The Summit League's Men's and Women's Cross Country Athletes of the Week for their performances Oct. 15-21.

MEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK Trent Lusignan, South Dakota StateJr. // Shakopee, Minn.
Lusignan earns his fourth career Athlete of the Week honor and third this season after recording a top-20 finish at the Pre-Nationals meet. The junior clocked a league-leading and personal-best 8k time of 23:49.65 for a 19th-place finish. He led the Jackrabbits to a 29th-place team finish ahead of 22 regionally ranked teams, including a dozen teams that held rankings equal to or better than South Dakota State.

WOMEN'S ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Rachel Zajac, IUPUISr. // St. John, Ind. Zajac captures her fifth Athlete of the Week award this season after setting a school-record and league-best 6k time at the Bradley "Pink" Classic. The senior recorded her fourth top-10 finish of the season with a 10th-place finish and time of 21:20, which was more than 30 seconds faster than the previous school record. She led the Jaguars to a seventh-place team finish amongst a field of five regionally-ranked opponents. Zajac has now tied for the most awards in a single season since 1995 and is tied for fifth in total career honors.

ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
In its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 120,000 at eight institutions, including three located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced eight NCAA Champions, 62 All-Americans and 50 Academic All-America selections.